I’m being lazy and doing two topics here but they are related
Been having a great time playing in my band and we are getting closer to finally performing live. I joined the band out of the need to play music with others, and it being “punk” I automatically grabbed a pick.
I’ve always been more of a finger-orientated on bass as most of my heroes and music used finger plucking.
I’m finding now that I want to try and use this with my band but the speed isn’t there. Wondering if anyone has any resources to help here?
I’m a big fan of Mastodon and Troy Sanders said he just learned the first 3 Metallica albums to learn how to play bass lol (Cliff you monster!)
As for the second part of the post title: do you change anything about your gear to compensate for finger attack since it tends to be more “thumpy” compared to pick playing?
The easiest path is to learn it slow then speed it up. On a fast moving song with lots of notes, when you get back up to original speed don’t stop there go pass it, practice it even faster up to 10 to even 20% faster, it will be a shock to your system I know but once you back down to original speed, it would feel like bullet time.
check this out. 200% DeanTown
you can dial up your tone or favor more bridge pickup. It would be nice if you also have longer nails.
My nails aren’t long at all but they are so hard it sounds like part of the drum kit when the treble is up. I think I’m going to work way harder on pick skills.
I studied classical guitar for awhile, before an unfortunate accident with a mandoline slicer left me with nerve damage in my fretting hand two (middle) and four (pinky) fingers, a condition I now suspect will be permanent. Things still feel weird and sometimes painful, but there it is.
That put an end to my classical aspirations, modest though they were. Happily though, I find that the thicker bass strings, spaced further apart, are more easily handled by my damaged digits. And since I already had a bass, it seemed natural to transition over. Now, instead of Christopher Parkening, I want to be Nathan East.
Fingerstyle plucking on the bass strongly resembles what classical guitarists call a rest stroke. Classical guitarists pluck with three fingers rather than two, but you could seek out some right hand exercises for the classical guitar and easily adapt them for bass. Classical guitar players are hugely concerned with plucking hand technique and efficiency, to include economy of motion…all things that fingerstyle bassists should also strive for. The plucking hand is also where classical players get the bulk of their speed, which sounds right up your alley.
Seek out some pointers from classical players regarding rest stroke technique (NOT free stroke) and see if you can adapt some of the exercises they do for speed on your bass. The aforementioned Mr. Parkening has written classical guitar methods. Other noted player / teachers are Scott Tennant and Gohar Vardanyan. Gohar has a number of “lessonettes” on YouTube. She’s an uber-talented player and, to my eyes anyway, kinda cute too.
I digress…
I’m sure you can find other such resources if you spelunk around on the interwebs a bit. Best of luck.
